I don't care what anybody says, Wishiwashi is the single best Pokemon to grace us this generation!!

Fourth Island BEGIN! Team has seen a bit of a change-up during the journey:

King'O Thorn (Toxapex)

This thing will never die. Seriously, anybody look at its stats and moves and ability? It's like a far more obnoxious Ferrothorn that trades in the ability to set hazards for the ability to never die. And it's based on the best starfish ever, the evil tyrant of the ocean, the Crown of Thorn starfish!

Slimer (Alolan Grimer)

Yep, this guy is still a grimer. He's been trying to evolve for a few levels now but I just can't let him! Eviolite gives him bulk to minimize, from there he also refuses to die, albiet for entirely different reasons to King'O Thorn.

Orbs'O Steel (Magneton)

Finally had to evolve the guy, he was getting two shot by darn near everything during the last story section. "When three Magnemite link together, their brains also become one. They do not become three times more intelligent."

Best Pokedex entry? Best Pokedex entry.

Mimikyu (Mimikyu)

Anybody that's seen this thing knows why it's on the team. It's also unstoppable, guaranteed Swords Dance in to Play Rough or Shadow Claw for near-perfect coverage, its lower than average attack stat prevents it from being too OP, this little adorable guy is usually the revenger of the team brought out when the enemies get serious.

Schooler (God Incarnate, aka Wishiwashi)

Anybody who has had so much as a passing glance at my previous posts knows exactly why this, the single greatest Pokemon of all time, is on the team.

Goliosopod (Goliosopod)

Big edgy thing, probably the most badass bug type in the franchise. Alas it might get dumped as there are simply so many Pokemon I want on the squad and this guys ability prevents it from really doing any heavy lifting. I foresee Bouncee getting a recall to the Test Side soon.

In training for the final challenge of the second island, another Pokémon fell.

Spoiler:

Luftig Hoo, a Luvdisc I snagged in the run-up to Olivia's lair, got Mean Looked and Cursed in a fight with two Gastlies. I decided to wallop one of them but its buddy's Night Shade and the Curse drained its health. Goodbye, brave Luftig Hoo - you may get a new lease of life in Moon, if Jo gets her way.

I've cleared the first trial - I'm moving at a very leisurely pace but I'm really enjoying this. I'm trying to stick to either new 'Mon or Alolan forms, but I've swapped in a couple of my favourites who've popped up along the way. My current team:

Spoiler:

Nash the Rowlet, Rashid the Trumbeak, Mika the Grubbin, Balrog the Yungoos, Makoto the Crabrawler and Juri the Misdreavus.

Also, I love Team Skull. They're genuinely making me laugh, which is rare for a Pokémon game.

I've somehow found myself shiny hunting, only on the 3rd island as well so won't be completing anytime soon. I feel I'm ready to call this my favourite Pokemon game though, I feel they've captured the whole theme of the region really well and there's a great mix between challenge and easy filler bits to stop becoming bored/frustrated.

I find myself on the third island with a much-changed team. Forsiktig the Fomantis bought the farm during the second island's final challenge so I took the opportunity to tinker with same. I'm going up Route 10 and have just found the lady's Stufful for her (fifteen grand, she gave me! Blimey). The team is:

It's not a chuffing Cottonee for one thing. But no, I think you've got a solid team there my man. I do think it's a shame that the Nuzlocke rules have stopped you from playing with the new monsters as much as you might do (only the one in there), but still looks good!

Cottonee isn't so bad, though I would have preferred to be able to carry on with my former Fomantis. And...

Nuzlocke Zero Episode 5: The Nightmare Happens! (third island plot):

DIGRESSION ALERT: Don't know if this is the fifth time I've spoken about my playthrough or not but it feels right.

So. Guzma. Up he pops, like it ain't no thang. His Golisopod is a monster I've not seen before but it looks Steel enough, so I deploy Liselott the Incineroar, who is immediately wiped out by a Razor Shell. I tell you, vengeance was brutal. I have laid Liselott to rest in Box 2, the fourth of my team to end up there. In a cabinet reshuffle Absorb's been boxed too, and Zita Rand the Crobat alongside Melltorp the Alolan Persian are now in my walking squad. I don't feel as confident in them without Liselott to tie it all together but press on we must.

Ruddy Nuzlocke... but the rollercoaster of it all is fantastic.

In other news, I've massively broken Nuzlocke rules to catch a 'mon in an area I've already mined for Jo. I wanted to do something positive! I am really rather enjoying being her Pokémon caddy.

Nuzlockes are full of heartbreaking moments, but it's all worth it if you can pull out a win.

I've made more progress!

Update:

So I've cleared the second trial and had a showdown with Wishiwashi. The general world design and feel of Alola is refreshing, and I don't feel like I'm going through the motions from gym to gym like I have in previous Pokémon games. I'm loving the way HM moves seem to have been replaced with Ride Pokémon. It's allowing me to not waste a team slot on an HM slave, which is appreciated! Speaking of my team:

Nash the Dartrix. I love Dartrix's design! His angry glare when you touch his fringe in Pokémon Refresh is brilliant.Chun the Rockruff. I needed something a bit bulkier and something to deal with Fire types. She's doing her job well.Juri the Misdreavus. Kinda falling behind the rest of the team... I'm looking for a new 'Mon so Juri can take a break, to be honest.Makoto the Crabrawler. Still kicking ass, and I've found very few 'Mon that can withstand her Z-Move.Rashid the Trumbeak. Also falling behind a little, but he's appreciated for any Grass or Bug 'Mon that rear their heads.Mika the Charjabug. I love this 'lil bug. It's a battery! And a bug! Great type coverage with her moveset too.

Nuzlockes are worth it for the heartbreak alone! No mere normal Pokemon run can elicit feelings remotely like a Nuzlocke. Nor push one to their limits. A person doesn't often learn their limits until they're pushed to them. Nuzlockes are love, nuzlockes are life!

And very sorry to hear about that latest casualty Zero, moments like that are one of the perks of nuzlocking a blind generation though!

The finale looms, and I'm officially highly underleveled. All of my team sits at the 49-50 range and were outstripped by the last story battle. So you know what? I'm charging right in to the final trial! Screw the levels, I have two gods! I will however be EV training one god beforehand, need some kind of ace in the hole.

One way or another, this ends tonight! Solgaleo, Schooler, Ginyu (Minior), Orb'o Steel (Magnezone), Mimikyu, and Slimer (Muk), tonight they will ascend!

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Oh god, a horrid thought just occurred to me. They're going to

Final showdown beginning spoilers:

make Hau the bloody champion and be all "while you were swanning around in the Ultra Beast world Hau beat everything first now have a friendly battle with you vomit inducing rival!"

aren't they! No, no, NO! If they do that this game gets an instant zero!

I want to believe they won't do that, but, well, this is modern Pokemon. My fingers have never been crossed harder, hoping something else is in store.

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AAARGH. You know when you've typed something, then go on to type something else entirely and accidently hit control plus another key and leave the page, losing all the extra text? Yeah. Gotta love how Google made going back a page harder when the old backspace worked fine, but control plus another key which is incredibly easy to press when typing fast will still open a bookmark page and lose all your progress. So enjoy an ultra TLDR where reasons are made in a review instead!

Team Skull leader best team leader of all time, Skull best team, Kahuna battle best boss battle theme of the franchise, and Spoiler best rival.

I didn't play as much as I expected this past week. I was visiting family and, in the brief moments I was left alone or travelling there and back, I was too engrossed by Harry Potter to get my 3DS out!

It's official. I despise Hau. Under that smile is a conniving self-centred little s***. Every time he opened his mouth in the epilogue I just wanted to smack him in the face.

Spoiler:

"I'm going to beat you someday!" "Baw Lillie, who totally has the hots for me, is leaving! T_T"

Please just do everyone a favour Hau and go away. I get the archetype they were going for with Hau, the problem is it's always a fine line between a amusing exuberant bag of fun and an irritating idiot.

On the bright side the Elite Four was great. Much MUCH better than XY's and the Hoenn remake. I actually had to try, and I suspect if I'd been nuzlocking the game they would've been extremely tough. And that final battle theme, dear lord has there ever been such a good battle theme in the series? Besides perhaps Zinnia I think not. Perhaps even better than that, it was just so beautifully ... "Pokemon". And the Elite fours theme itself was intense as hell. Very fitting, especially the fight against

Boss spoilers:

Ghost Girl (who is, by the way, the single most adorable character any elite four has ever seen) which turned in to a stall war between Slimer and Palosand. Slimer had maximum evasivness, Palosand had Earth Power spam. Made even more tense when she healed it of toxic. Twice.

I tell you the second time she busted out a Full Restore I was starting to get more than a little worried, Slimer was running out of means to poison the thing and with several Iron Defences up it was doing next to nothing to Palosand with Payback. Fortunately I got a last second poison with Poison Fang and stalled it out with just enough PP in Payback to kill the rest of her team. It was close though, very close

Speaking of that fight, I will say I enjoyed that each of the squad got their moment to shine in this elite four.

Other things I loved about the game:

Spoilers up to the beginning of the fourth island:

The main villain literally being Ragyo from Kill la Kill (she even had the high heel clop!), Gladion in general,

the attempt and actual effort in the presentation, the homies TEAM SKULL, the music, and the return of quality design to enemy teams and AI. These scratched an itch I've had since Colosseum and Gale of Darkness, but better than anything I suspect genius sonority would have come up with.

10/10, best Pokemon games in almost a decade (maybe even longer), looking forward to eventually Nuzlocking Moon! Only cons: Hau, severe framerate drops at times.

Stay tuned for my top ten Pokemon Sun and Moon themes, coming to the Nintendo music thread January the 12th!

Oh I've already got a good idea what my top ten list is going to be, and I'll be prepping it well before january. No long delays on this one! Just a grace period for everyone to finish at their own pace!

Bravely Second/Island Four spoilers:

Yeah, they do seem similar. The Ba'al's were basically aliens after all! Speaking of which I greatly like that the Ultra Beasts, and the other alien of the franchise Deoxys, look extremely odd. Too many works of fiction make aliens humanoid.